Chapter 35: The Tongue-Plucking Punishment

“It has to be Amao Yuki! From the moment I walked in, I saw that guy constantly writing something down!”

“No, that’s not true!” Amao Yuki exclaimed, flustered. “I just have a habit of keeping a diary. Whenever I’m bored, I record the things happening around me on my device.”

“Who writes a diary if they’re a normal person? You’re definitely the owner of the Death Note!” The student who spoke up, Tanaka Hama, declared with absolute certainty. “Just admit it already! Are you going to get all of us killed?!”

“I really am not…”

“Let me see your diary then!”

“My diary is private; I can’t show it to you.”

“Fine, so you’re playing hard to get, huh? No matter, watch me expose you directly!” Tanaka Hama’s expression twisted as he raised his hand. “I request to expose Amao Yuki!”

[Exposure failed. Amao Yuki is not the owner of the Death Note. Tanaka Hama will suffer the Tongue-Plucking Punishment.]

“How is this possible?!”

Tanaka Hama shrieked in disbelief, clearly unable to process the outcome.

Yet, he wouldn’t have to grapple with disbelief for long. His mouth was forcibly stretched open by an unseen power, his jawbone audibly snapping, and his tongue was cruelly yanked from his body like a radish.

In that horrifying moment, everyone except Bai Yuliang realized for the first time just how incredibly long a human tongue could be.

Fortunately, this time, perhaps due to Teacher Mori’s presence, Tanaka Hama’s corpse vanished quickly.

Witnessing this gruesome scene, many faces turned ashen.

Everyone now understood that a failed exposure meant certain death.

Though one person was gone, slightly increasing their odds, no one dared to attempt another exposure so readily.

Tanaka Hama’s fate served as a terrifying deterrent.

However, this didn’t prevent people from voicing their opinions. The classroom erupted in a cacophony of accusations, with everyone convinced that someone nearby was the Death Note’s owner, desperate to unmask them.

“Ichinose Yuki, it’s you, isn’t it? I saw you acting suspiciously just now!”

“Funami, you bastard, don’t you dare frame me! Just because I rejected your confession? Is that any reason to slander someone?”

“Bullshit! It’s definitely you, you b*tch!”

“You’re the one full of shit! Maggot, shut your mouth!”

Mutual suspicion and furious arguments broke out across the classroom, yet no one dared to actually use their exposure chance.

Are you kidding? An incorrect exposure meant death. Who would gamble with their own life?

As Bai Yuliang secretly pondered what to do, Nishionji Mitsuki, who sat in front of him, turned around again, a hint of expectation in her gentle eyes.

“Yuliang-kun, do you have any good ideas?”

Perhaps his previous performance had left a deep impression on her, for Nishionji Mitsuki, now the class representative, spoke to Bai Yuliang with noticeably more frequent tenderness.

“What other options do we have?” Bai Yuliang said helplessly. “For now, we can only wait for the Death Note owner to reveal their hand, and then expose them.”

“We’re all classmates, after all. I never thought we’d face a situation where it’s kill or be killed…” Nishionji Mitsuki said with deep melancholy.

‘Classmates, after all?’

Hmph…

Bai Yuliang scoffed inwardly. While there might be some camaraderie among classmates, when it came to one’s own life, the priorities were clear.

Some people would abandon their own parents without hesitation to survive. What did classmates even amount to?

However, Bai Yuliang did not directly mock Nishionji Mitsuki. As the class representative, she was undoubtedly the one who held the most affection for their class.

He merely stated, with a delicate touch, “Class Rep, have you ever heard a saying?”

“What is it?”

“Weakness isn’t an obstacle to survival; arrogance is. We are currently at a critical juncture between life and death. It’s like a killer already has a knife to your throat, and you’re still worrying if they’ll go to jail for it? You should worry more about yourself.”

Nishionji Mitsuki’s gaze dimmed slightly. She murmured, “You’re right. If I were the owner of the Death Note, perhaps I, too, would kill my classmates to survive.”

“Exactly. There’s no right or wrong; survival is the key,” Bai Yuliang nodded. “There are still roughly 24 hours until the assignment ends, and the Death Note owner must kill one person every three hours. So, unless someone successfully exposes them early, we will lose at least eight people.”

“That’s too many. It’s almost a quarter of our class.”

“Indeed… So, for now, it’s best if we do nothing and remain calm. We must not stand out and attract the Death Note owner’s attention.”

“Understood.”

In truth, Bai Yuliang had omitted one crucial detail from Nishionji Mitsuki: the assignment only required killing one person every three hours, but it didn’t state that *only* one person could be killed every three hours.

If the Death Note owner possessed a sufficiently ruthless heart, they could easily kill one person after another, even if doing so increased their chances of being successfully exposed.

The classroom had devolved into utter chaos, a boiling pot of suspicion. The words grew increasingly harsh, and some students even began to resort to physical altercations, venting their daily frustrations and stress.

Just as the class descended into a deadlock, a student raised their hand and stood up.

“Everyone, stop arguing! What good will this constant bickering do us now? It only pleases the Death Note owner! Although this is a death assignment, past experiences show that it’s not without a way to win!”

The speaker was Kuroda Yuto, the president of the Deduction Club, a rather intelligent individual.

“Yuto-kun is right; we should unite!” Edogawa Rin, another club member, chimed in agreement.

Both were recognized as bright minds within the class. With their intervention, the arguments in the classroom quickly ceased.

Everyone turned their expectant gazes toward the two, hoping for some method of salvation.

Seeing that the class had finally quieted down, the two seized the opportunity to discuss amongst themselves. Soon after, they seemed to have reached a conclusion.

“Hmph…” Kuroda Yuto smugly adjusted his glasses, stating confidently, “Everyone, don’t panic. I’ve thought of a way. In this [Death Note] assignment, the Death Note owner must kill one person every three hours, which means they cannot write in the notebook in front of us.”

“Exactly!” Edogawa Rin added. “As long as we all stay in this classroom and don’t go anywhere, with everyone watching and supervising each other, the owner won’t be able to kill anyone!”

“Three hours isn’t the time for our crisis to appear; it’s the owner’s deadline!”

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